1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable dining utensil, and more particularly to a loopable and wearable dining utensil, for example a chopstick, a fork or a spoon. According to various connecting profiles, the multiple dining utensils can form a bracelet, necklace, belt or an ornament of handbag or hand-held mobile device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, Yu-Chivan Chen teaches a loopable and wearable dining utensil in U.S. Pat. No. 8,176,751, a previous creation of the present invention, granted on May 15, 2012. FIGS. 1A through 1B are views illustrating the loopable and wearable dining utensil of Chen. As shown in FIG. 1A, a chopstick 300 includes a rigid function portion 301, a holder 303 and a flexible connector 118. The rigid function portion 301 has a chopstick terminating at one end in a rounded tip which is intended to engage portions of food and the rounded tip also serves as a male linker 302. The opposite end of the rigid function portion 301 has a first linking part 116 which is of a rectangle cross-section. The holder 303 is intended to hold the chopstick 300. One end of the holder 303 serves as a female linker 306 used for linking with the male linker 302, and the opposite end has a second linking part 112 used for linking with the first linking part 116. The flexible connector 118 intended to connect the rigid function portion 301 and the holder 303 has a flexible member 122 and a stopper 124. The chopstick 300 forms a loop when the male linker 302 is engaged with the female linker 306 of the holder 303, as shown in FIG. 1B. The chopstick 300 forms a normal used chopstick which has the flexible connector 118 received in the inner of the chopstick when the first linking part 116 is engaged with the second linking part 112 of the holder 303.
From the above description, the features of U.S. Pat. No. 8,176,751 enable dining utensils to be wearable by using simple structure and easy assembly to form a bracelet, necklace, belt or an ornament of handbag or hand-held mobile device. Second, since a carrying case is excluded, a carrying volume is reduced and burden of user is also relieved. Furthermore, dining utensils as personal ornaments triggers user to bear when eating outside on weekdays, which is sustainable to our environment.
The loopable and wearable chopstick 300 is easily carried and wearable as ornaments. However, the wearable chopstick is very loose. This is that the shape and size of the wearable chopstick could not be adjusted and fixed due to the configuration of the flexible connector 118. And, the beauty of ornaments can not be shown. Moreover, as the flexible connector is a wire or a chain, the second linking part 112 and first linking part 116 easily get dirt accumulation when the chopstick 300 forms a loop-shaped ornament. In addition, the flexible connector 118 is not easily to receive in the inner of the chopstick 300 when forming a normal used chopstick.